Are you dreaming of a real trip to Middle-earth, but did The Lord of the Rings: Gollum disappoint you as Redfall vampire fans? So maybe it’s time for a board game. Today we have a review of The Lord of the Rings: The Journey in Middle-earth for you, with the help of which you were able to whet your appetite for the lame creation of the developers from Daedalic Entertainment.
- Number of players: 15
- Game time: 60-120 minutes
- Price: 2499 CZK (Thlam Games)
- Credit: Asmodee Blackfire
- Age: 14+
Bilbo goes on an adventure in The Lord of the Rings: Journey to Middle-earth.
Once upon a time there was a hobbit named Bilbo, whose life was full of peace and contemplation after one great adventure, when suddenly the captain of the huntsmen Aragorn appeared on his sleigh, who, along with his unusual companions, decided to take the little hobbit into a whirlwind of action again. Do you expect to have to read huge scripts in The Lord of the Rings: Journey to Middle-earth? Well, I may disappoint you, all campaigns are available in the app, which was quite a criticized element some time ago. However, over time, she has undergone a number of improvements, which makes her a very enjoyable game to play and does not distract you during the campaign.
Rather, the opposite could be said. Thanks to the background music offered by the app, the adventure in The Lord of the Rings: Journey Through Middle-earth is arguably more action-packed than in games that eschew this format. I will say for myself that at first I was a little afraid of the application, but in the end it turned out to be a very pleasant assistant in traveling around the game world, the design of which is very pleasant. Most of the time, you won’t be looking at it much, because it will be under your heroes’ feet. The map composition itself works well. However, in the later stages, you may run into trouble with a seat that you won’t get on the smaller tables.
In some scenarios, you can get into very different places, which do not always benefit your heroes. Dark caves or other similar places are definitely not pleasant. However, there are enough scenarios, so you have something to do at least for a few evenings. Their intensity is something very specific, the game shows that it is aimed at fans of this universe who are not in a hurry. However, there is no shortage of tension in The Lord of the Rings: Journey Through Middle-earth, which is excellent.
However, before you even go on an adventure, like in all good adventure games, you have to choose who you actually go on an adventure with. In total, six heroes with unique characteristics and skills are available to you. Therefore, it will not work to make a nine here, but you can take on some iconic characters. Perhaps I would appreciate more random characters than the ones we already know, because the combination of Bilbo, Aragon, Gimli and Legolas doesn’t look too bad, but it’s hard for fans of Middle-earth stories to feel natural. The role you choose for your rake should be entirely up to you, but the game itself gives you guidelines that, at least at the start, are not a bad idea to follow. Although Aragorn would certainly fit the role of defender, but as a captain he can play a little better.
Instead of dice in The Lord of the Rings: Journey Through Middle-earth, bets are placed on cards.
Then you go to the first story with the story you chose. You can do only two actions with each of the heroes. It’s really up to you whether you do the same action twice, or choose one and then add another to it. The champion can be traveled, which in practice means that you move him to one of the neighboring locations. When you enter an area that has not yet been explored, you will automatically select the originally placed token in the application and evaluate it.
The second action that can be taken is an attack. The map is often full of various enemies to face. Once you choose to do so, you select a weapon and then draw as many cards from your base deck as your character’s current attribute value, which is represented in the top corner of the card. We have Strength, Wisdom, Dexterity, Spirit and Wits. However, we will talk about evaluation in more detail below. The enemies react to your actions, so if they don’t fall, all the enemies in the group will of course retaliate against you, giving your heroes some damage and fear tokens. For each such token, you always reveal a card belonging to this category. Of course, the hero can try to parry the blows, but in reality he always catches something. At the end, the adventure may lead to a “final battle” moment where you have to press a button in the bottom corner of the app. If you fail, the rest of your group will only have one turn to complete the quest. If he doesn’t make it, it’s all over.
In addition to moving around the map, there are also battlefields that require a bit more strategy than fields where you really only have to bet on your gear and stats. Their processing is not very demanding in principle, but can attract attention, as well as the monster models themselves, which are waiting for you everywhere in The Lord of the Rings: Journey through Middle-earth. Ordinary goblins, archers and wargs can definitely draw attention. And to be honest, coloring them was a pleasure. Before I move on to the last option for heroes, I will focus on the Shadow phase, which activates enemies that often try to get to the closest heroes. As soon as the enemies move, the threat increases, and they also receive fear tokens, at least in dark places.
The very last action is the activation or interaction with a search token, character, or threat, which then has some form of evaluation in the application. Challenges and trials are something you almost constantly face in The Lord of the Rings: Journey Through Middle-earth. While in Warhammer Quest: Cursed City you would have to draw one of the dice sets at the time of the call, this is where prim cards come into play. Each trial requires slightly different values, which subsequently determine the number of cards drawn. For example, when it comes to wisdom, Aragon has the ability to reach for four pieces at once, which gives him a good chance of success, which, on the other hand, is not a threat when the game tests your dexterity. Each of the drawn cards has its own label in the upper corner. Some will offer you a symbol of success, some nothing and a handful of inspiration. You can actively work with inspiration thanks to the inspiration tokens that each character has and can get to them in different ways while moving around the map.
The Lord of the Rings: Wandering Middle-earth Doesn’t Immediately Send You to Mordor
I won’t lie, I’ve always been wary of using board game apps. I worked with the idea that having to use the app would significantly disrupt the overall experience. The Lord of the Rings: Journey Through Middle-earth showed me that for some board games this format is, and now wait, better than playing them without an app. It actually makes the overall experience a little easier for you, which may not be for everyone, but it can be seen as how board games can evolve in the long run. The gameplay itself is inherently very accessible.
The rules won’t confuse you too much, so you can get into the game very quickly. That is, it is better to say, go on spectacular adventures, in which you will be quite actively helped by cards that prevent too much chance, which underlies a number of other similar works. In addition to the gameplay, a very strong point is also the handling of the game components, led by the figurines and the blueprint. At least in the basics, I find combat to be an interesting challenge, but nothing as epic as one would expect from a Lord of the Rings brand, but that doesn’t matter at all. The Lord of the Rings: Wandering the Middle-earth is a good work, with which I got into a taste for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum and, at least for myself, I would call it an ideal choice for lovers of this universe and, above all, good stories.
Source :Indian TV
